Google Docs and Wikis February 1, 2012

Google Tools Google began as a simple search engine in Around 2001, Google began developing new areas of the site, expanding Google’s capabilities way beyond just searching the Internet.

Google Tools: The library of tools available from Google has grown exponentially. Many of them are integrated with Google Accounts and may require membership to access full functionality.

Google Docs: With Google Docs, users can create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. You can import Microsoft Office files and edit them within Google Docs, or you can create a file within Google Docs and export it as a Microsoft Office compatible file.

Google Privacy Policy: “The main change in the updated privacy policy is for users signed into Google Accounts,” “Individuals don’t need to sign in to use many of our services including Search, Maps, and YouTube. If a user is signed in, she can still edit or turn off her search history, switch Gmail chat to off the record, control the way Google tailors ads to her interests using our Ads Preferences Manager, use Incognito mode on Chrome, or use any of the other privacy tools we offer.” Pablo Chavez, director of public policy for Google Read More:

Google at Ryerson: Google Apps for Education

Google Apps for Educators

Google Docs are the best choice for synchronous collaboration on a single document - with some delay, users can see others changes as they occur! The system handles conflicting changes well. A history of revisions is kept for all documents. Each spreadsheet has a built in chat room for collaborators. Each presentation has a built in chat room for viewers. Upload and export most word processing and spreadsheet file types. Google Docs: Account

Go to lto.blog.ryerson.calto.blog.ryerson.ca Google Docs: Let’s start

Google Docs: Create Online Document Click on “Create New” and select “Document”

Google Docs: Create Online Document A small screen “Rename Document” will pop-up write a name and press “OK”

Google Docs: Sharing the Document Click on the “Share” link

Google Docs: Sharing the Document In the small screen “Sharing Settings” click on “Change” link

Copy the highlighted link by pressing “Ctrl V”, then press “Done”. Use this link to send to other so they could edit the same document

Google Docs: Sharing the Document You can edit a shared document and also add comments. To find the document, use the link posted on.

Google Docs: Sharing the Document To add comments or to engage in a discussion. Click on the “Discussions” button, select show discussion and start typing. Save and close.

What Is Wiki? Ward Cunningham from Portland, Oregon created WikiWikiWeb in It’s a web page that can be created and edited ‘quickly’. Wiki [viti] is a Hawaiian word that means ‘fast’, ‘quick’. The word wiki was added to the Oxford English Dictionary on March 15, 2007

Definition from Merriem-Webster dictionary: “a website that allows visitors to make changes, contributions, or correction” by anybody with a web browser and Internet connection open editing Encourages democratic use of the web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users (Leuf and Cunningham, 2001) What Is Wiki? (cont.)

Wiki in the Classroom? Course Information All course information —syllabus, course schedule, assignments, handouts, etc. Students can check in to get information at any time without the multiple login steps of an LMS. Resource Repository Save current articles that relate to course content. Encourage students to do the same Student Projects Why not make the best work public? Not only does this encourage students to do better work, but also makes that work a resource for future students. Dr. John Orlando, Employee Development Director, Social Media Expert, Magna Wikis in the Classroom: Three Ways to Increase Student CollaborationWikis in the Classroom: Three Ways to Increase Student Collaboration

Research Findings The essential nature of a wiki is to allow students to take an active role in composing while teaching them to work together to compose, revise, and edit an end product (Tharp, 2008, p.41)

More Research Findings (Page, n.d.) “Students embraced the use of the wiki pages with great enthusiasm” “Students appreciated that they could access their discussions at any point, and as often as they wanted to” Students became much more reflective in their learning Enhances student engagement and collaboration

Wikis: Create a shared website We will use wikispaces as an example. BenefitsDrawbacks Wikis maintain a history of all revisions to each page, including who made what changes. Most wikis also provide a discussion forum for each page, though this is not always a threaded discussion. Most wikis allow different permissions for different users. Adding images and files is as easy as adding attachments to an . Users can overwrite each others' changes if they are editing the same page at the same time. Wikis are best for asynchronous collaboration, not synchronous collaboration. Though a history of revisions is available, archives of old content are not easily accessible by category or searching. Go to webto.wikispaces.com/webto.wikispaces.com/

Wikis: Start editing a shared wiki You can edit the home page by clicking “Edit”

Wikis: Create a shared website and add more pages by clicking “+ Pages and Files” on the left navigation bar.

Wikis: Create a shared website

Do you have any Questions?